For the third time, KÖR Vienna is cooperating with the urbanize! festival - this year with the “School of Walking” by the duo Bik Van der Pol.

Under the title “ENERGY! Power to the People”, urbanize! will explore the possibilities of an ecological and socially just energy transition and its opportunities for democratizing energy production and use from 8 to 13 October 2024. The aim is to empower urban society and engage civil society in a socially just and climate-friendly transformation of the city.

For the current cooperation between KÖR Wien and the festival - this time together with KEX Kunsthalle Exnergasse - Liesbeth Bik and Jos van der Pol were invited, who have been working under the name Bik Van der Pol from Rotterdam (NL) since 1995. For urbanize! they are activating the “School of Walking”. Just as Barcelona passes the “baton” of the European Capital of Democracy to Vienna, they invite experts from the fields of democracy and law to take part in discussions during four public walks to disputed places with promising names:

Martina Handler and Laura Grossmann from the “Climate Assembly” will lead us to the Lobau, the scene of years of protests against the planned highway project.

Together with architects and urban planners Lina Streeruwitz and Michael Klein, we visit the urban development area Nordbahnhof and the associated park “Freie Mitte”. Streeruwitz is co-responsible for the area's master plan, while Klein lives there as one of the initiators of the co-housing project “Kohlenrutsche”.

On the walk through Alsergrund with democracy expert Tamara Ehs and researcher and activist Barbara Laa, the connections between democracy, participation and successful measures against the climate crisis will be discussed.

Andreas Gugumuck from Zukunftshof, Klaus Schafler from Kunsthalle Exnergasse and the curator, photographer and filmmaker Karoline Mayer will accompany the walk at Zukunftshof.